I think it’s an awesome concept. Get two people together when they are not even old enough to understand what togetherness means, and watch the fun. Okay, creepiness aside, I really think it’s an awesome concept. Why, you ask? Let me tell you why.

Kids don’t have the social/ peer pressure of finding themselves a girlfriend/ boyfriend when they come of age. Or before that.

Parents don’t have to worry about who to get their children married to, when they grow up, because that’s already taken care of.

People don’t have to make efforts to ‘impress’ the members of the opposite sex, as there’s no motivation to do so.

One has a default partner, as and when the need arises to make use of the facility.

If the involved parties respect the idea of commitment, there’s so less chance of straying, heartbreaks, complications. Life is much simpler. And simplistic too.

People will inherently be more patient. For dealing with someone who’s been thrust upon you is no easy task. Perhaps.

And some more which my over-worked brain cannot think of right now.

Of course, as any other concept, there are problems associated with this one too. Some of them being:

What happens if the kid turns out to be homosexual?

What if the grown-up selves are totally incompatible with each other?

What if the families have a fallout in the meantime when the kids are growing up?

Insert point no. 7 from above.

But but but, these ifs and buts should not detain one from exploring the brilliant arrangement that is child marriage. Seriously, give it a thought. You must.

I’m not a champion of social causes, still my two cents:
Whatever you said in *for* child marriage will happen iff the kids get to remain kids even after the marriage. Looking at how the situation actually unfolds here in India, I have serious doubts this would really work.
But I would be a great way of handling the *peer* pressure nonetheless.